Intraocular localizer embodying a universal level



Patented Get. 17, 1950 INTRAOCULAR LOCALIZER- EMBQDXINGA UNIVERSALLEVEL";

David lg lvicCgy Birmingham, Ala. h Applicationflctober9,1947, SerialNo,778,865

Claims mtCl. ss-

My present invention relates to an in strument for localizing foreignbodies in the eyes compris 7 ing anophthalmoscope embddyinga hemispheriecal universal level .mounted. thereon observation] aperture whereby theoperator three dimensional angular. reading may. obtain directly adiameter of the human eye,. whereby..the position of the bubble .whenareading .istakenisorepredistances irivolvedin the sentative. of. 1 theactual eye .it'self, ,thus givin picture of the location ofthe as itspositioni the operator. a .true size with; it a axisnparallel to. theline of vision through the f th =10ph a1m S 0P foreign. body as. well whh e r sentsthe exact location gotthe foreign. body in .v

level comprises aliemisphericalbulb of adiameter. closelyapproximatingthe Another object of my invention is toprovidelzt anintra-ocular. localizer of the character designated in which thehemi'sphericalbulb'forming the :universallevel is divided into four.e'quiangw lar quadrants by reference--lines and in which the quadrantsare subdivided by otherirefer'ence lines to indicate angulardistance-ina horizontal plane froin 'a commonzero and angulari'-dis- T.

oint at the top of theibulbl A further object or my invention is' to soarrangethe reference lines on instrument reads correctly foreign=bodiesin either thelftor right eye and to so mount the universal level as notto interfere-with the operator obtaining an unrestricted view-into-theeye. l Apparatus embodying the features of. my invention is illustratedin in 'gforming a part of this-application in which;

embodying 'rny invention;

Fig 2 is a side yiew thereof the accompanying draw- Fig, -1 is' aj' ianView of a ophthalmoscope the bulb thatvthe when used to locate -i5 5 ienl tseidii .sqt qne Vi ta en.

along theline llI- IlLofFig. I

.d plan wview-.01.? the Fig. F1 is a further. enl ver al le lrawn s t as f. he ph rica n ieclth ret tm h t e temware flat in; Ab he eme i l tate the position of the reference lines andnumerals,

Fig. 5- is. a, somewhat. diagrammatic end view illustrating, the.instrutnerit in use to localize; a

ballj and un ed on the e t scre 7 T3 s alensfdisc. MIL As is the lensdisc {4 has mou ted 'a gii ery ablu'raliti' 0fleriSeS f6 screw 13oppositeith e L provided with a smalliapertur the number'of the lenss'jelicftedby disc maybe viewed" Bet the .end 6f. the nose piece pieceare iorovided.w ith, spectively, through wh viewing the eye through ,t elens The endof. the instr nient en. H is provided with. an an yandilensll by mean beam'of light .friom", a (not shown) mounted w causedto be reflected .as in 22 The-lamp. is energized by mea switch 23lcnrrent bein fp carriedfi nthe handle; .I 0.

Theairistrurne described. s

Secured .to fthle Itop of the holder i l rea I18. and lfl, aslby" wardl.1 of. theapertures other suitable transparent material. 26 thebulbImaybe'providedwith a tiOn Zl' screw. [3,. .Thefbulb I I k sentirelyfilledj 28 gimme exception-that. 'a small is provided. .f1hebulbis mounted sic -that axis iis p I w va allel-to the line omit-lamnar; observation.apertliresjfi aDd JSfJIt'willib H p nt. e o e. that thbi bbie, .29 "is. free to" move a out beneat the. innerQcurved wan 61the.,. hemisph I, 1 .h hfand ha 1on mud1nai and. 1 r s t aeevie ee 2 ti:ati ieiee iif lel 3 horizontal plane may be determined from theposition of the bubble within the bulb.

Referrin now more particularly to Fig. 4 of the drawing, it will be seenthat the outer surface of the bulb 24 is divided into four equiangularquadrants 3 I, 32, 33, and 34 by means of a pair of lines 36 and 37intersecting at 90 degrees at the top of the bulb. The line 36 extendsparallel to the long axis of -the instrument as a Whole and the line 37extends transversely thereof. Commencing at the point of intersection ofthe lines 36 and 3'! at the top of the bulb 24, I draw a plurality ofconcentric circles 33 which may conveniently be laid out 10 degreesapart. Commencing at the point marked at the end of the line 36 nearestthe observation aperture, I sub divide each of the quadrants radiallyinto 10 degree increments by means of lines 39. Therefore, commencing atthe point 0 and reading either clockwise or counterclockwise thequadrants 3I34 and 3233 read from 0 to 180.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 5 and 6 the method of usinmy'improved localizer may be readily understood. Let it be supposed thatthe eyeball M has a small foreign body 42 in the lower part. Thepatients head is tilted backwardly until his normal line of vision issubstantially vertical. The operator rests the nosepiece I2 against theside of his nose, and, having selected, the correct lens I6 by rotatingthe lens disc I4, looks into the eye through the apertures l8 and I 9and the lens I6, the incandescent lamp providingfthe necessary light.The instrument is moved until the foreign object 42 is visible throughthe apertures I8 and I 9. The instrument is now held steady, and, byreferring to the position of thebubble 29 relative to the referencelines on the bulb 24, an accurate and definite reading in degrees of thelocation of the foreign body is obtained. The readin may be reduced tomillimeters, thus converting the same to the terms generally used inophthalmic work.

Referring to Fig. 6 of the drawing, it is assumed that a foreign body 43islocated in the eyeball M; adjacent the side thereof. The operatorpositions the instrument, and raises the handle It until he is able tosee the foreign body through the apertures I8 and I9. He thereupon readsthe position of the bubble 29 and the correct angular position of theforeign body is obtained.

It will be apparent that any combination of angularity of the instrumentwith respect to the horizontal and vertical can be read, thus locating aforeign body in any part of the eye, limited only by the ability of theinstruments beam of light to illuminate the Very peripheral anteriorsegments through a dilated pupil, since the bubble 29 rises to thehighest point on the inner wall of the bulb 24. Therefore, in the eventit is necessary to enter the eye to remove the foreign body, its exactposition is determined by pre-operative examination and unnecessaryprobing of the eyeball is eliminated.

By reason of the division of the bulb 24 into quadrants lying both tothe right and left of the longitudinal center line of the instrument,and by making the .0 point adjacent the nose plate I2, and apertures I6and I9, I obtain both a right and lefthand instrument. That is to say,the angularity determined by the radial reference lines 39 is alwayssomewhere between 0 and 180, regardless of Whether the right or left eyeis being examined. Thus, if a foreign body is present in the lower partof the right eye the bubble will come to rest in quadrant 32 or 33,and'if it is in the upper part of the right eye the bubble will come torest in quadrant 3| or 34. If in the lower part of the left eye, thereading is in quadrant 3I or 34, and if in the upper part of the lefteye, in quadrant 32 or 33. The general position of the foreign bodyvisible to the operator is known, since he can readily determine whetheror not the same is in the upper or lower half of the eye, or the rightor left side thereof. By providing the ophthalmoscope with my improvedhemispherical type of universal level the exact position of a foreignbody may be read directly by reference to the position of the bubblewith respect to the radial and vertical division lines.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised an improvedintra-ocular localizer which is both simple and effective for itsintended purposes. It is to be especially noted that the bulb 24 is ofsuch size as to correspond closely to the size of the human eye, thatis, approximately -i% inch in diameter. The operator, therefore, obtainsa reading on a transparent scale which in shape and size corresponds tothe shape and size of the eye and therefore obtains directly from thisreading a true size picture of the location of the foreign body withrespect to the eye. It is to be further noted that the bulb 24 in no Wayinterferes with the normal use of the ophthalmoscope, since it is ofsuch size and so positioned as not to interfere with the view of theoperator when looking through the apertures I8 and I9. Since the polaraxis of the bulb is parallel with the line of the operators sightthrough the observation aperture, the reading obtained by the positionof the bubble is accurate within very close tolerances. In actualoperation, I have found that an instrument made in accordance with myinvention is extremely useful, particularly in those cases where it isnecessary to enter the eye to remove a foreign body. While I havedescribed my improved localizer as being primarily useful for locatingforeign bodies, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that itis useful for other operations such as plotting retinal tears in theeye, locating lesions and outlining their size, etc.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire therefore that only such limitations shall beplaced thereon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an instrument for localizing foreign bodies in the eye, anophthalmoscope embodying a head having an observation aperture at theforward edge thereof, a hollow transparent hemispherical bulb mounted onthe headrearwardly of the aperture with its polar axis parallel to theline of vision through the aperture, said bulb containing a liquid andan air bubble, and reference lines on the curved surface of the bulbdividing the same vertically and radially.

2. An instrument as defined in claim 1 in which the radial referencelines are numbered from O to commencing at the point on said bulbclosest the observation aperture.

3. In an instrument for localizing foreign bodies in the eye embodyingan ophthalmoscope having a disc-likehead with an observation apertureadjacent the forward edge of the head and a handle on the rear thereof,the combination of a hollow hemispherical bulb of transparent materialse- 3 cured to the head adjacent the center thereof and between thehandle and aperture, said bulb containing a liquid and an air bubble andhaving its polar axis disposed normal to the plane of said head,radially extending reference lines on the curved surface of the bulbdividing the same into equiangular segments, said lines being numberedfrom 0 to 180 clockwise and counter-clockwise as the bulb is viewed inplan, the 0 point being that point on the bulb nearest the aperture, anda plurality of concentric reference lines struck from the pole of thebulb and spaced equi-- angularly apart and numbered from 0 to 90 fromthe pole of the bulb downwardly.

4. In an instrument for localizing foreign bodies in the eye embodyingan ophthalmoscope having a disc-like head with an observation apertureadjacent the forward edge of the head and a handle on the rear edgethereof, the combination of a hollow hemispherical bulb having therein aliquid and an air bubble, means to secure the bulb to the center of thehead between the handle and aperture with its flat side adjacent thehead and with the polar axis of the bulb normal to the plane of thehead, and reference lines on the curved surface of the bulb dividing thesame horizontally and radially and by means of which the direction anddegree of inclination of the polar axis from the vertical may bedetermined by noting the position of said bubble relative to said lines.

5. In an instrument for localizing foreign bodies in the eye, anophthalmoscope embodying a head having an observation aperturetherethrough, a universal level in the form of a hemispherical bulb oftransparent material containing liquid and an air bubble mounted on thehead adjacent the aperture with its polar axis parallel to the line ofsight through the aperture, and indicia on the bulb for determiningdeviations of the polar axis of the bulb from the vertical by referenceto the position of said bubble.

DAVID A. MCCOY.

7 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 807,382 Hogan Dec. 12, 1905970,360 Whigham Sept. 13, 1910 2,331,591 Arnesen Oct. 12, 1943

